Fishing rod holder



Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to fishing rod holders,

Heretofore persons afflicted by having only one arm have been handicapped because of the difficulty and sometimes impossibility of participating in the sport of fishing because the customary shing equipment invariably requires the use of both hands. This is particularly so when it cornes to the use of a rod and reel which require dexterous and skillful manipulation. My invention, therefore, has for its principal object the provision of an improved shing rod holder of such simple and novel construction as to make it easily and expertly usable by one-armed fishermen. In furtherance of this general object my invention contemplates `the provision of a shing rod holder applied in a novel manner to a belt to be worn by the fisherman so that with the casting rod firmly supported in the holder the reel may be freely and easily operated by the one hand and the entire rod may be easily removed and replaced by the one hand. l

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved mounting of the holder on the belt for the purpose of permitting easy attachment and detachment of the holder with respect to the belt proper and to permit comfortable wearing of the belt when the holder is removed.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved fishing rod holder of the character described which may be set to a position for left hand use as well as right hand use.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved fishing rod holder of the character described which will serve in a practical manner the purposes intended and which is of such simple construction as to permit of manufacture at a comparatively low cost.

Other objects and attendant advantages wil be appreciated by those skilled in this art by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fishing rod holder embodying my invention, showing a manner of using it by a right-handed fisherman;

Figure 2 is a similar view but showing the holder in a position for use by a left-handed fisherman;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the belt or base portion of the holder;

Figures 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views showing the base attachment and the handle receiving ends, respectively, of the holder tube;

Figure 6 is a sectional view lengthwise through the holder;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on the section line I-T of Figure 6;

v Figure 8 is a detail section taken on the section line 8-8 of Figure 7; and Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the section line 9 9 of Figure 6.

The drawings show a preferred illustrative embodiment of my invention. My improved fishing rod holder is characterized by a tubular part for receiving and holding the handle end of a casting rod, a base part carried by a belt to be worn by the user, and a novel connection between the tubular part and the base part whereby the tubular part may be quickly and easily attached for support in any of several positions and whereby when detached the base part and the belt may tbe worn comfortably and the front of the base attachment portion presents a substantially flush surface -which will not interfere with outer garments and the like. The base part comprises a plate 9 preferably of light alloy metal suitably fastened to a belt II). The belt plate as well as the belt should be of substantial vertical dimension in order to provide good support for the tubular rod holding part which is designated generally by I I This tubular part I I, also preferably of light alloy metal, is of suitable length and diameter to receive the handle I2 of a casting rod designated generally by I3. The tubular part II may be made in different lengths to accommodate rod handles of different sizes. To the y base end of the tubular part I I is fixed an attachment plate I4 which is preferably iiat and at an acute angle with respect to the tubular part at its top side, as shown in Figure 6. This attachment plate is shaped to provide circumferentially spaced, arcuate projections I5 and intermediate spaces. The belt plate 9 is provided with socket shaped retaining means to receive and lock these projections I5 and consequently the plate I4 in the attached working position on the belt plate. This is accomplished in the present embodiment by using two flat ring members IB-I 'I and a latch member I8. The ring members are fixed asby soldering or welding to the belt plate. The inner diameter of the ring members is of a size to receive the projections I5 and the outer ring member I1 is shaped to provide circumferentially spaced projections I9 matching the spaces intermediate the projections I5. The inner ring member IB is of a thickness to provide sufficient socket depth to receive the projections I5. Thus by inserting the attachment plate I4 into the opening provided by the ring members IG-I'I and turning the tubular holder II and its plate I4 about the center axis of the plate I4 the projections I5 will be moved into the spaces beneath the projections I9. Turning movement of the tubular holder is limited by a suitable stop such as 20, formed by turning inwardly a portion of one of the projections I9 so that they will be engaged by the adjacent projection I5, as shown in Figure '7. The latch member I8 is provided with a detent 2I adapted to engage behind the oppositeV edge of the last mentioned projection I5 to loclgvthe tubular member against displacement from this position, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. The latch member I8 is provided with a suitable portion 22 for finger engagement bythe user to withdraw the detent 2l. This can leasily be accomplished by inserting a linger beneath the portion 22 and exerting outward pressure thereon while at the same time turning rtli'e tubular m'ernber in a counterclockwise direction viewing Figure 7 to remove the tubular member.

Provision is made for `releasably holdingthe casting rod 'iir'fnly 4in the tubular member. l This is accomplished by providing janv-shaped slot 23 in vthefoute'r end of thetubul'ar member to receive the usual nger projection 24 on the rodhandle, and by further providingy'asprng clip having opposed nspring members 2:5 arr`anged tosnap over the vlinger member, 24 when thelat'ter isse'ated in the s ocket 23,V Thehspring membersz may be formed on the ,ends o'f the 'ULshape'd 'spring member zewhicnls Aadjustatly fastened to 'the outerfside ofthe tubular memberT I I by f'l'eans -of a clamping plate `.Z'Iand a screw 2'8 which fastcns the clamping plate/to the tubular member. Obviouslybyrlooseni'ng the 'sc`rew 28 the springcl'ip 26 may be -adjusted lengthwise 'to lthe proper position. Itl will be 'observed that the slot 23 and the spring lclip 26 lare Aarranged to locate the reel 2.9 in a position for convenient use of the right arm when intended for a right-armed person, r,as shown inFig'ure 1. In vthis arrangement the reel 29 is at the top and the handle of the reel is at the` right. With this construction the tubular holder II may also be attachedto the belt plate ina position with the reel v29 at onekside of the rod and withv the" reel holder at the top so that the reel handle may b e operated by the left hand. This latter position is shown in Figure 2. Thus with a singlerconstruction the tubular holder may be mounted ineither of the two positions, one in which the reel may .be operated by the right hand and the other inv which it may be 'operated by the left hand. It will` also be observed that in either of these positions the rodis rmly supported and the reel maybe operated by a person having only one arm, either left or right. It will also be observed that the construction provides for 'easy removal of the rod from the tubular holder by pulling the rod outwardly against the spring resistane 'of the clip members 25, 'also that the tubular holder I I may be removed or remounted by means of one hand. It will be further observed that I have a relatively broad base mounting for 4 the tubular member which gives a rm and stable support for the tubular member and the rod. This construction is also advantageous because it eliminates projecting parts when the tubular holder is removed, which projecting parts would be objectionable as an obstruction to clothing and to bodily interference with other objects when the person moves about,

It is believed that the foregoing gives a clear understanding of my invention and it should be 'apparent that changes may be made in details of construction without departing from the spirit 'and scope of my invention as expressed in the appended claim, in' which.

lIn a iishing rod holder of the kind wherein a sher'mans casting rod with reel is used in combination with a belt Worn by the sherman and in whichthe casting :rod is provided on its handle portion with a rod ,locating meansin predetermined relation to thehandle and the casting reel and the `belt is provided at its front witha plate having iiat projections in circumfer'entially spaced relation and spaced from the belt plat'e to provide therewith a ilat Yretainer 'socket having circumferentially spaced socket openings, th'e combination 'of a tubular rod hold'er having 'an open end to receive the handle portion of the casting rod and provided at its Aopposite end with a flat disc-like attachment plate having 'ciroumferential projections shaped to enter said re'- tainer socket openings 'and to be held 'therein beneath said belt plate by rotative movement or 'the attachment plate with respect to the belt plate, the tubular rod l'l'ol'de'r having lo'ic'a'tig means oomplement'al to .that on the handle portion "of the casting rou andnsnape'd 'for 'tba' oit there, with to hold the casting feel in a predetermined position for lright handed l'seand ffn'eans for locking the attachment plate A tp th'je belt plate in one position of saidQattach'n'ent-, 'plate infsaid 're'- tainer sdeke't for` ,saq'r'iglit Yhanded Lus@ if the` rd and forlo'ckingthe tubul'a'rfrod holder in a second position effected by rotative movement 'of ksaid attachment plate with respect 'to the 'belt plate for left handed sefof the rods.,

HERMAN I-l'. JASPER.

Referenties cited in the are bf tlils patent UNITED STTES PATENTS 

